Doubts of Yesterday
by Temari of the Desert
Summary: Sequel to 'He was of Leaf, She was of Sand'. He was hers, and hers alone. Naruto x Temari. Multichaptered. Chapter 7: His Smile. FINISHED
1. Someone Like Her

I got a request for a sequel. I will oblige, since I have NOTHING else to do. I will start with this chapter, and from there on, I will TRY to find some sort of plot. Everybody help

to! So this is the sequel to 'He was of Leaf, she was of Sand'.

**Doubts of Yesterday **

**Chapter 1: Someone like Her **

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When Temari awoke the next morning, she was sure that the night before had been a dream. Nothing had changed; the sun rose just like it used to, the birds chirped just as merrily as they had before. The only hint that it could have happened was that she was still fully clothed, instead of in her usual pajamas. Part of her wanted to believe that it was proof, but she knew she could have been just too tired to change after training.

She wasn't sure how to approach this problem, she knew that it could be a dream, or it could have been reality. She had vivid dreams every once in awhile, but she couldn't convince herself that his soft lips upon hers was unreal. That the feel of his body pressing against hers, his warmth defending her against the chill of the night air.

Half of her wanted to believe it was just a dream. It could never work out, ninjas from two different villages really weren't meant to love it only caused difficulties in her eyes, even though she knew full well that her love for him was as real as it could be. But she was still unwilling to admit—more like hope, that it was real, that he could love someone like her.

From what she could gather, he was chasing after that pink haired girl—Sakura. She could feel the jealousy forming in her chest. The jealousy that he could love—even think about loving, another girl besides herself.

She shook her head violently. When had she become so close to one boy…? One boy that could captivate her thoughts for hours if she allowed him to? She had never had that experience with anyone. How could she tell him, relay to him, the love that she felt for him? She wasn't good with that sort of thing, being a novice with the dealings of love.

Deciding that she had spent enough time laying in bed, letting her thoughts wander on the fox boy. She gently pulled the covers off of her body, and slid her feet onto the ground. Her bare feet made strange sounds on the wooden floor as she walked. She started making breakfast, and before she could stop herself, her mind wandered to Naruto again.

What was he doing now? Was he thinking of her? Was that event real, or was it just a fragment of a dream? She couldn't be sure. The only way to know would be to ask, which she knew, even with all of her mental strength, she couldn't pull enough courage to ask that sort of thing.

Absent mindedly, she traced her lips with her finger, wondering if she had really kissed him. Whether she had really tasted him, whether his lips had met hers. She came to the same conclusion, as before, she had no way of knowing. She was best to act like nothing had ever happened, unless confronted by Naruto with the subject.

Again, she thought about how he used to act toward the pink haired girl. How he'd call her '-chan'. How he'd try to impress her.

He was hers and hers alone.

She knew this wasn't officially true, but she had liked to think so.

What about the Hyuuga girl as well? The affection she held towards Naruto was strong, although Naruto appeared oblivious to her feelings. Was the girl competition? Perhaps. Then again, was there really competition in real love? She knew there was in manga, novels, and movies. But was real love different? She hadn't thought about it before.

Was ninja love different from any other sort of love?

Temari didn't have the answers to any of her questions. Realizing she had spaced out, she discovered that her breakfast was burning. Muttering a curse, she realized that her food was now wasn't edible. She looked through the cupboards, and realized she had nothing that could be made fast. She had no intention of spending a half-hour or more on cooking breakfast.

But she couldn't just skip the meal, she'd be hungry all the way until lunch. She decided that she'd have to go out for breakfast.

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And it is dooooooone.


	2. Ramen Stand

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, Temari, Sakura, Hinata, or any other related characters.

A/N: Look at that. A disclaimer. Review answers.

Gonekrazy3000-

**Question: **Will this be in the same format as He was of Leaf, She was of Sand? 

**Answer:** I don't think soHe was of Leaf, She was of Sand was a pointless one shot I wrote one day because I was bored. I'm going to try to make this fic have an actual plotline, although occasionally, I might throw in a chapter from another person's perspective. So… no?

Le1- Yay!

Madnarutofan- Yes, it was short. I realize that. It was supposed to be, actually.

Maxhrk- Yay! Glad you like.

PGW-Chaos- Thank you.

You make me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

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Temari hadn't thought about where or what she was going to eat for breakfast, she had never spent time actually touring Konoha to find out where to eat. Having no better ideas, she decided that the ramen stand would do.

Pulling on her shoes, which were some cross between a sandal and a boot, with long cloth that went up to the middle of her shins with her toes sticking out. The last touch to her usual daily clothing was her fan that was leaning up against the wall, its black shape standing out against the white wall. She picked it up, it was fairly light to her, and slid it to its place on her back.

She opened the door and gently closed it behind her, heading out into the morning.

She couldn't help but notice how different the mornings—how different any time was in Konoha compared to Suna. It was just… different. In almost every way.

The thought of leaving it for who knows how long made her a bit sad. She didn't think it was leaving Konoha itself, she thought it was leaving the fox boy, Naruto.

By this time, she had reached the ramen stand. She wasn't too surprised to hear Naruto's loud voice echoing to her ears. With a small smile, she went and sat down next to him, not fully acknowledging his presence. She ordered rather quickly, and thought about what she should say to the boy sitting next to her. She didn't have to say anything, because he broke the silence first.

"…I didn't know anybody ate ramen for breakfast besides me." It wasn't really a question, but it really wasn't a comment either.

Not wanting to say anything about burning her breakfast, she settled with a half lie, "I didn't want to spend time cooking."

He nodded. If it had happened, he wasn't showing any signs whatsoever. Perhaps he was in doubt too? That was very possible. Temari didn't know what to think. She didn't want to question him about it, it'd be awkward if it really hadn't happened.

The two allowed an uncomfortable silence fall between them. The old man handed them their ramen, and both of them began to eat.

While they were eating, Naruto couldn't help but stare at her. "…What do you look like with your hair down?" He questioned.

Temari paused, "What do you mean?"

"…Do you think… you could take your hair down for me?" He blushed lightly, and looked like expected her to say no.

"…Well, nobody's asked me that before. But I don't see why not." She promptly took out each of her four pigtails, and she shook her head a bit, so her hair fell into place.

Naruto stared. He had never seen her with her hair down. "…That…looks nice." He blushed a little again, and turned back to his ramen bowl.

Temari smiled lightly, and pulled on a strand of her hair, "You think so?"

Naruto swallowed the last mouthful of ramen, "Yeah."

She finished her bowl as well, and sat there silently, unsure of what to say.

When the old man came to collect money for both of them, Naruto paid for both of them. Temari looked ready to protest, but Naruto stopped her, "This is for the nice chat." He stood up and walked away from the ramen stand, leaving a stunned Temari behind.

Temari wasn't sure what to think of anything anymore.

Meetings in Konoha were boring, and she couldn't wait to get out. Once she did however, she realized she had nothing to actually do.

So she resorted to the thing she always did when she was bored and had nothing else to do.

She trained.

The good thing about going to Konoha and having time to train there was learning to train in different environments. Here, in Konoha, she could find out how to put the landscape to her advantage. The more landscapes she trained in, the more flexible she was on the different areas she could fight in.

That was another reason she liked travelling to Konoha.

Once she had gone for awhile working on several points that she needed to improve, she recognized the familiar eyes watching her as she worked. He didn't say anything; he didn't correct her when she made mistakes.

She didn't know whether to talk to him or not, so she took a shot at it "Naruto—"

"Did that happen? Did that really happen?" Naruto asked, looking at her.

She caught her breath. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

It really had happened?

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A/N: …hmm…I have an idea for a plot now, but I have no idea how to tie it in with the story. Hmm. I'll figure out something.

In the meantime, review.


	3. Rain

Doubts of Yesterday 

**Chapter 3: **

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Slowly, Temari nodded. Suddenly a wave of doubt consumed her. Perhaps they weren't talking about the same thing at all. It was possible, but somehow, unlikely. She stared at Naruto, waiting for some sort of confirmation.

Naruto allowed this to soak in. A look of shock came upon his face, and he couldn't get it to go away. He couldn't believe that someone; especially someone like her was capable of loving him. It wasn't possible. In no way was this possible. He backed away from her, "You're lying, aren't you?"

Temari was taken aback by his sudden change of attitude, "No…?" She wasn't quite sure what he was asking her. "What are you—"

"You lied when you told me you loved me, didn't you?" He snapped at her. His expression wasn't vicious, actually it was more of the opposite. He looked like a child, hurt and alone.

Temari wanted to embrace him, to tell him she wasn't lying. But she didn't do it, she stood there, her eyes full of hurt. Why he had he doubted her? It didn't make any sense. "What are you talking about?" She asked, her bangs shadowing her eyes, "Why would I lie? I don't have a reason to lie to you!"

Naruto's expression didn't fade. He felt lost; he wasn't sure who to turn to. He wasn't sure whether to believe her. If he did, he could possibly be hurt in the end. But wasn't there a price to pay for everything—every desire? If he believed her, there would be a heavy price to pay. If he didn't believe her, he'd be haunted by why he did it for a long time to come.

"…Why are you doing this?" She looked up at the sky. It was a bright blue, as if mocking all the people below. No matter how much blood and how many tears are shed, the sky was almost always blue, unless it was raining.

Naruto realized how much she had hurt her, "Temari I—"

"Naruto, do you really think I lied?" She stared at Naruto; "Do you think that's the type of person I am?" _'Just answer the question, Naruto. I want to know what you truly think of me…' _

"I never said that." He said quietly, almost too quiet for her to hear, "I didn't mean it that way."

"Then what way did you mean it?" Temari was a bit frustrated with the boy. If he didn't mean that, then what did he mean?

"I don't know… I just know I didn't mean it like _that_." Naruto was a bit flustered in this situation. He didn't have much experience with girls; he wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't drive her away.

"…Naruto…" She said carefully, as if she couldn't think of what to say. This situation was awkward. She didn't know what to do in awkward situations.

She didn't have much time to think about it anymore. She felt herself being pulled against the younger boy's chest, his breath near her ear.

The two felt something wet, something cold. Rain poured down on top of them, so hard, they were soaked in seconds.

But neither of them moved. They had the body warmth of each other and the weight in their hearts lifted, and their love took flight, their lips locked in a passionate kiss that lasted what they would swear was a lifetime.

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A/N: Yes, yes, its short. It's sappy. It's stupid. I wanted to post it. To get it out of my way. Review.


	4. Gone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and all related characters.

Wow. A disclaimer! Sugoi…

**Doubts of Yesterday **

**Chapter 4: Gone…?**

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"What do you mean, she went back home?" Naruto questioned Kakashi, his blue orbs looking at his teacher with hidden fury. It had been four days since he last saw Temari. Why hadn't she told him that she'd be leaving so soon? Had she forgotten? Unlikely, Temari didn't seem like the type.

"I mean exactly what it sounds like." Kakashi responded calmly, not really wondering why Naruto was asking him where the Suna girl was. The two of them had been acting a little strange for the past few days, and this confirmed it.

"…Why did she go back?"

"Because she was only supposed to be here for a little while. She has missions to do back in her own village too." Kakashi responded smoothly. The fox boy was getting a bit worked up now, and Kakashi knew this.

"…Why didn't she tell me…?" He asked himself under his breath. He turned away from his teacher, not bothering to say thank you, and he took off at a mild run.

Not too far away, Tsunade was in her office, reading a letter from the young Kazekage, Gaara. His sister, Temari, who had left the Konoha village four days ago, was currently missing. The Kazekage wasn't sure how it had happened, Temari was supposed to be back. He had sent ANBU out, but he hadn't found any traces of Temari whatsoever. The Hokage sighed deeply. While the girl was still within the Fire Country, she was Konoha's responsibility. And it was possible that she had been attacked, and possibly kidnapped, within the Fire country borders. This would mean problems and more paperwork for the Hokage…

Suna was an ally; she couldn't just do nothing about the situation. The Kazekage's sister was missing, and this would probably cause a bit of chaos within the Kazekage's village. As an ally, she had to participate in the search efforts… but Konoha was busy enough with its own problems.

Tsunade closed her eyes, a bit stressed. The only people they could spare were chuunins and genins; even so, she could hardly spare them. She supposed sending Naruto and a few others would keep Naruto out of trouble, and it could be in the interest of the village to spare a few ninjas for the sake of the Kazekage's sister.

Tsunade had just got done pondering the contents of the letter when Naruto burst in, a furious expression on his face. "Just in time—" She began, but Naruto cut her off.

"I want a mission in—"

A vein popped out of the side of Tsunade's head. She grabbed Naruto by collar, and pulled him so he was closer to her face, half-way over the desk, "Look here brat, I got a mission for you. And I don't want any complaints." She snarled at him.

Naruto stared at Tsunade; "I'm not interested." He said looking to the side stubbornly.

"Too bad, you don't have a choice." Tsunade released him, "You and Sakura are going to assist Suna in the search for a missing person."

Naruto perked up at the mention of assisting Suna, "Who's missing?" He questioned, hardly unable to contain his excitement. He didn't even have to request a mission to Suna; he was getting one anyway.

"It's the Kazekage's sister, Temari." Tsunade said something else, but Naruto didn't hear. Temari was missing? When? How? Why? He growled in his throat.

"…I accept this mission."

& & & &

Naruto and Sakura ran out of Konoha, backpacks on their backs, Naruto far in the lead. Sakura struggled behind, she couldn't keep up with the speed he was producing with the help of the Kyuubi.

"Naruto please SLOW DOWN." Sakura shouted at him.

Naruto looked back at Sakura, then hesitantly slowed down. Sakura didn't understand the urgency, she couldn't understand. He wasn't about ready to make her understand either. He kept an even pace, they had agreed that they'd stop at Suna first, to pick up any clues Gaara might have, as well as to pick up the ninja Suna's going to offer to help them find Temari.

"Thank you." Sakura said, almost panting already from the workout of trying to keep up with Naruto's Kyuubi speed. She now kept an even pace slightly behind him, a pace that was almost effortless but wasn't slow.

Naruto nodded in response to Sakura. He didn't want to be socializing with the girl he had believed he had loved for so long. That had changed when he suddenly noticed Temari. Temari and her flawless figure, her smooth skin, her perfect legs… He shook his head violently to remove these thoughts from his head. He didn't want to think of her that way… he didn't just like her because of her physical appearance. There was something about her personality that drew him to her like a magnet to metal.

Sakura stared at her companion. The boy had been quiet since they left Konoha, it was almost like a quiet storm of fury, which was unusual, usually the boy was open with his anger. She didn't know what to think of this sudden shift in how he expressed his feelings… but then again; perhaps he was too angry to express it in a physical way. Why he was angry was another matter entirely. She had noticed he had strayed away from her, spent more time away from his team than he did with them. How he acted suspiciously, quietly finishing drills and minor missions without complaint.

The boy had been so immersed in his own thoughts; he didn't know how he was acting to the outside world. The new Naruto scared Sakura; the new Naruto was quiet and kept to himself. What had happened? Was this new Naruto permanent, or would he snap out of it soon? Sakura could only hope the boy wouldn't act like this forever.

"Sakura, how long before we get to Suna?" The voice wasn't like Naruto's, it was far more mature than Naruto's own. Unintentionally, Sakura shivered.

"Not long." Sakura assured the fox boy. She didn't know exactly how much longer, but it wasn't very long at the rate they were travelling. She could tell Naruto was having a bit of an inner struggle of two instincts conflicting, one to stay with Sakura; moving at a slower pace; or to move faster, and leave Sakura behind. She wasn't worried about which he'd choose, she knew he'd stay with her. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she knew he would.

"…Good." Was Naruto's response. His pace quickened a little, and Sakura had to fall a little more behind than usual for Naruto to realize he was going faster again. He slowed again, and seemed a little frustrated at their pace and what slow progress they were making. Temari was out there, missing, maybe dead. She might even be kidnapped, and Sakura was taking her own, sweet time. It was enough to make Naruto even more furious than he already was, which was hard to do.

"This pace is perfectly fine, Naruto. We'll reach Suna by mid-day no matter what." Sakura told her companion calmly. The boy was worried about Temari, she could tell. But why he was so worried, was beyond her. The only logical explanation she could come up with was that Temari was Gaara's older sister.

"I know that." Naruto snapped. He hadn't meant to sound mean to the pink haired girl, but he couldn't help it. Temari was gone, and nobody knew where she was. Finding Temari was his number one thing to do at the moment. He had to find her, even if it meant facing the devil himself. He had to do it.

Sakura frowned. The Naruto she had known was never this quiet and she could sense something different about his aura. He seemed… a bit dangerous… and it scared her. She had never really thought of Naruto as dangerous, but this new side to him was scary. Very scary.

Naruto wasn't paying attention to Sakura and her fears. He had one thing on his mind and one thing only. And that was Temari.

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A/N: DONE. FINALLY. X.x Took forever! Review!


	5. Wounds

A/N: Hello once again! Disclaimer is in previous chapters, so ON WITH THE FIC.   
**Doubts of Yesterday **

**Chapter 5: Wounded **

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When they finally arrived in Suna, Gaara had no information to offer them. And unsurprisingly, the ninja he was going to send along with them was no other than Kankurou, the puppet master.

Soon after this short reunion, the three shinobi took off, headed towards the area near the Fire Country. It was very quiet between the three of them and all attempts at conversation Kankurou and Sakura tried to make was quickly trailed off into silence. Finally, realizing how impossible it was going to be to talk, they settled with the silence.

Of course, the same thing was going through all of their heads. Temari could be dead. This whole search could be pointless.

Naruto didn't want to think that way; things had come through in far worse situations than this. He knew there wasn't a good chance they'd find Temari, especially going off of the little amount of info they had. By little, I mean microscopic. They had no information whatsoever besides the fact that Temari had left Konoha four days ago and hadn't returned to Suna. Besides that, there were no traces of her.

How could a person just disappear like that? Someone had to have seen her… there was just no way Temari could disappear like that. Or so he thought, he had never heard of a missing person really, most ninjas, if they didn't come back from their mission, they were dead, and nobody went after them.

These thoughts and others created a negative silence between the three instead of a less tense silence of nervous minds. But the added negative thoughts just put a rough edge on the silence. If only they had some sort of clue… some sort of lead, any sort at all.

Finally, after awhile, Kankurou made a stab at conversation, "A few days before Temari left, she told me something about a place she had discovered. It seemed to be abandoned, but she wasn't so sure about it."

"Do you think she went there, Kankurou-san?" Sakura questioned the older ninja. When Kankurou nodded, she added quickly, "Do you know where it is?"

Kankurou shook his head, "No, not particularly. She said was well hidden, but not impossible to find. She described to me what the building looked like, and what the surroundings looked like."

"So another dead end…?" Sakura questioned a bit disappointed. She hadn't even noticed the fox boy's attention was fully on their conversation.

"Let's try to find that place." Naruto insisted, "It's the only hint we've got. And what if Temari's there? And in trouble?" He didn't want to risk it. They had to check into all possibilities, and they had nowhere to turn to at the moment.

Kankurou looked sheepish, "I suppose. I'll keep an eye out for anything that looks remotely like it could be it." He wanted to find Temari as much as Naruto did, but he doubted the old building had anything to do with Temari's disappearance. It was odd that Temari had mentioned it, then about a week later turned up missing…

& & & &

It was dark, almost no light entered the room, the only window was small, and there was some sort of material covering it. She shifted, only to have a sharp pain hit her side, like a knife being twisted inside of her flesh. With a gasp, stopped all movement. Tentatively, she looked down at her side. The fabric was ripped, and drenched in dried blood. She uttered a curse when she realized she had reopened the wound, and new, bright red blood oozed out from underneath the dried blood.

She winced. How long had she been here? She left Konoha three days ago, last time she checked. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, and there were no clues around her. Even if their had been, chances are she wouldn't have been able to see them, the room was too dark. With a sigh, she flexed her wrists and ankles. Tied. Not very well, but the injury to her side would keep her from going anywhere too far. She'd have to wait for it to heal, and she didn't know how long that'd be.

With a sinking heart, she realized that she was probably labeled 'Presumed Dead' at the moment. Nobody would come looking for her; she was on her own. But she had known this, if she had ever been captured, she was pretty much on her own unless they knew where she was. Nobody knew where she was, she had kept it secret that she was heading for a visit of an unlikely place…

Naruto… she had left the village without telling him she had to go. Did he know of her disappearance? Did anybody know? She sighed once again. The situation was almost hopeless, she had only herself to rely on for escape. But there were probably guards around the place… if she tried getting out; she'd have to be in better shape than she is now. Even then, who says they won't take her out of this room and into a better one, one that she couldn't easily break the window and jump out? The chance now was something that she couldn't pass up, that she wouldn't pass up normally. But she could hardly move, the injury on her side was serious, and moving would only make it worse, she'd only be endangering herself if she tried to leave.

She moved her head so she was facing the window. The substance that covered the window was just an inner layer of glass, she had thought it was blocked because of the lack of sunlight. It wasn't sunny out, that was all… but why leave such an easy escape route? There had to be something up with that window, even in her current condition, she could still bust the window and leave.

Nobody was that sloppy. The inner layer must have some sort of security precautions on it, otherwise whoever was holding her captive were complete morons. She was a Jounin after all, escaping though a window would be no big deal if she wasn't so injured. But she was. And she couldn't change that at the moment. She'd have to wait at least until it sealed up a bit more. She didn't want to risk going out yet.

She examined her surroundings once more. There was only one window, and she was lying on something hard. The floor, she noted almost automatically. There seemed to be only one other piece of furniture in the room, and that was a bed in the corner, messy white covers spread out hastily over it's surface. There was a door nearby, but Temari suspected it was locked. Paper was cluttered about the floor near her, but as far as she could tell, nothing was printed on the papers. She wasn't tied to anything, which gave her a bit of an advantage. As soon as she could move without too much pain, she could sit up…

But what scared her the most about this whole situation is that she had plenty of time—too much time—to think about what they could do to her, and what they wanted her for. She didn't want to think about it, she knew if she did, the more possibilities that came up, the less she'd feel the need to get out, the need to escape. The more hopeless the situation seemed, the less a person wanted to spend energy on it.

It wasn't like she had a choice to spend energy on this situation or not. She was in no position to be making demands or arrangements. She had to plan carefully if she hoped to get out. She had no idea who her captors were, much less their rank of strategic ability, but she hoped they were complete and utter morons.

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A/N: Short again, but whatever. You can live with this much, I updated twice in one day. Review.


	6. So Gentle

Sevetenks- Arigatou! KatonKageNaruto- mmhmm. Thank you. 

Drolkrad- I wish there were more too! Zankyuu!

Achalon- that's good to hear! 

Uozumi- Thank you so much!

Ranko- Thank you.

**Doubts of Yesterday **

**Chapter 6: So Gentle **

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"Stop, this looks like it could be it." Kankurou said after a few hours.

"All right! Let's go!" Naruto was a bit too eager to bash in the faces of those idiots who had messed with Temari. But Sakura grabbed his arm, and she continued on with a logical reason they should plan something before they went off into something they knew nothing about.

"Let's just see if this is the place, then we can plan something." Kankurou broke in calmly, seeing how much the pink haired girl was getting on Naruto's nerves. He wasn't quite sure why the boy was so worked up, not even Kankurou himself had been that upset when he heard about it. Gaara had been more angry than upset, but Naruto seemed to be somewhere in between.

Reluctantly, Sakura agreed. They carefully walked down a steep, rocky path. Kankurou used the description Temari had told him to lead them to what was indeed, an old looking building. He stopped the group.

"I say we just bash their heads in." Naruto said impatiently, eager to get in there. But part of him was afraid. Afraid that he wouldn't like what he found. But backing off wasn't in his nature, no matter what. He wouldn't be scared off, he'd never be scared off.

"Be patient, Naruto. That strategy could get us killed." Sakura said soothingly, trying to calm down the impatient fox boy that had a clear knack of barely making it out of bad situations.

"Sakura-san is right. We're going to have to plan something." Kankurou stated, backing up the young medic.

Naruto was impatient, but not so impatient that he'd run on ahead without Kankurou and Sakura, "Fine. What are we going to do?"

& & & &

Temari was hoping, with some sort of stroke of luck, that her captors would forget about her. But that thought was quickly vanquished when she heard voices in the room next door—or in a hall, she couldn't tell. Her breathing quickened a little. She didn't want to have to deal with questioning, especially when she was injured. The best thing to do was to pretend she was sleeping.

So that's what she did. She slowed down her breathing slightly, to a sleeping level, and closed her eyes gently. The doorknob turned, and Temari had to fight the urge to turn to see who it was.

She didn't want to know.

& & & &

Kankurou had agreed to be the distraction. He was to make as much noise as possible, dragging everyone out. Sakura was his backup, but she was also making sure an escape route was always ready for Naruto to return. Naruto had insisted that he be the one to go in to find Temari. Surprisingly the other two had agreed, and they put their plan in motion.

The fourth explosion was the signal for Naruto to head in. They figured by that time, they would have dragged most of the people out.

One went off.

Naruto's heart sped up. How many had come out?

Two.

His breath quickened slightly, he wondered how the other two were doing. This was dangerous work.

Three.

Almost time. He braced himself to start running. He heard urgent voices from out front, and from inside the building.

Four.

He took off at a fast pace, heading in an entrance Sakura had found, and deemed clear. He had to be careful, but quick at the same time. The sense of urgency was clear, he had to find Temari before either they took her somewhere else, or killed her.

He prepared himself for the idea that Temari might not even be here. The chances were slim to say the least and what if this wasn't the place Temari had been talking about? Even if it was, who said she was here?

Heart thumping, he threw open a door. Empty. He'd have to search better than that. Where would they store a prisoner? Automatically, the answer came to him. Somewhere that wasn't that easy to escape from.

& & & &

She heard explosions. This made her jump out of her fake sleep, and to her dismay, she realized that the person who had entered the room had not left. This was bad on her part, but then she realized, she couldn't have fooled them into believing she was sleeping while explosions were going on. She felt her arms being grabbed roughly, and she was pulled to her feet. Pain ran through her side, and she resisted.

& & & &

He had a feeling. He had a feeling if he kept following this hallway; he'd find all the answers he needed. Turning down a corner, he came face to face to a small hallway, and at the end was a heavy door. The door was perfect for keeping someone inside.

Heart pounding, he walked towards the door. He couldn't muster up the strength to run. He reached out a shaky hand to the door handle, and pulled it open.

What he saw before him made his eyes widen.

& & & &

Sakura hoped that Naruto would find Temari soon. Kankurou couldn't keep deceiving them like that. If she joined in, she'd only get in the way, she knew. Kankurou was relying on the trickery of his puppet, and Sakura would only screw that up. She heard another explosion that made her head turn.

& & & &

Temari's eyes widened at the sight of Naruto. That had been the last thing she had expected. "…Naruto…" Relief immediately turned to worry, however. Who was outside, dealing with the explosions? The whole population of the place must be out there.

"I'll kill you." Naruto's voice was calm and dangerous as he stared at the ninja that was holding Temari. **_His _**Temari. Immediately, his eyes wandered to her side, where she was injured. This only made him flare up more. He could feel the Kyuubi's chakra flowing… and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.

& & & &

The explosion had not been planned, and as far as she knew, it wasn't from Naruto. The sight that met her eyes almost made her cry. Naruto was carrying an injured Temari so gently; there was only one explanation for it all. Naruto cared for her.

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A/N: Mmmhmm. Review.


	7. His Smile

A/N: If you're a NaruSaku, or a SasuSaku fan, you probably won't like this chapter much at all. 

Thank you reviewers!

Warnings: Sakura angst.

**Doubts of Yesterday**

**Chapter 7: His Smile **

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Sakura couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before. The odd behavior, the unspoken fury… it all made sense. So much sense, it was almost scary. She wouldn't have thought it possible. Naruto was…. Well, Naruto. The reality she had lived in for so long was twisted. She was supposed to love Sasuke. Naruto was supposed to love her. It was supposed to be this vicious cycle, but this new twist made it… wrong. All wrong. Or was it just different?

She could already feel Naruto breaking away from her, going towards Temari. She could feel it, and she couldn't stop it. She couldn't stop any of it, even if she tried. She was a helpless bystander as the reality she knew was changed. Completely and utterly changed.

True, the sun would rise, same as always. She'd go on missions and train regularly. Nothing was different on that perspective.

But the relationship between herself and Naruto was changing. And would never be the same again, she lost her chance. She lost it because she was chasing after something she could never have—something she wasn't meant to have. She knew her mistake, and she knew it was too late to correct it.

Gaara was relieved when the group came back, and even more relieved when he realized Temari was with them. He obviously had felt that looking for Temari had been a wild goose chase and nothing more.

Naruto had been grinning widely at Gaara, his personality obviously back from its little vacation, "I kicked their asses." He responded immediately to Gaara's response to the group returning. He carefully set Temari on her feet, and Sakura went to work at fixing her side.

Kankurou stood aside and watched this. He wasn't sure what was going on between Naruto and Temari, but it was something different. Something entirely different. He didn't know what it was, but from the expression on both Temari's and Naruto's faces, he assumed it was something good. Had something happened between them? Something he should know about? Sakura seemed to have a pretty good idea what was going on, she had been silent the whole way back…

The thing that Sakura, Temari, Gaara, and Kankurou all noticed was the smile on Naruto's face. It was a real smile, not one of his goofy grins that covered up the pain he was feeling inside.

& & & &

Temari waved goodbye to Gaara and Kankurou as the three took off, headed back to Konoha. Gaara had agreed to allow Temari to return to her post in Konoha, also seeming to have noticed the relationship between Naruto and Temari. It was farther proven when Naruto and Temari had spent Temari's recovering time together.

"Oh wait a minute!" Gaara called to the three retreating shinobi, "I have a present for you, Temari." He walked up to Temari and handed her some papers, "These are the papers you need to transfer to Konoha." 

"Transfer?" Temari asked, a bit taken aback.

"Yes. Transfer." He assured her, looking mildly pleased with himself for finding out Temari's and Naruto's relationship before Kankurou had. "So you can stay in Konoha."

Temari didn't know she had done it until she had her arms wrapped around Gaara in a hug. "Thank you so much." She told him, breaking away from her younger sibling. She waved one last time before turning and heading to Konoha with the two other Konoha ninjas.

Naruto grinned back at Gaara, who nodded in return. It was this simple exchange that told Naruto that Gaara was going to kill him if he didn't take care of Temari. Naruto couldn't help but grin at this. He didn't need to be told to take care of Temari; he'd do it anyway.

"Thank you, Gaara."

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A/N: I think its pretty much done. There's not really much left to write about is there? I think covered everything. Unless you want some Naruto angsting or Temari angsting or something, but its not like there's anything to angst about. So yes, I think its done.


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